High Court stays arrest of Ramdev's brother Ram Bharat

NAINITAL: In a dramatic turn of events, the grandfather of Nitin Tyagi, who had accused Ramdev's brother Ram Bharat of abducting and torturing his grandson, today told Uttarakhand High Court that he had lodged the complaint under police pressure, after which the HC stayed Bharat's arrest.

Justice V K Bisht passed the order as the complainant appeared in the court and filed an affidavit, saying he was pressurised by the police to lodge an FIR against the Yoga guru's brother, government counsel A S Gill said.

Nitin also filed an affidavit through his lawyer stating that he was not abducted by anyone.

The court, however, directed Bharat to cooperate with the police in its ongoing investigations into the case.

Bharat was accused of abducting and torturing Nitin, a former employee of Patanjali Yogpeeth, which is owned by the Yoga guru.

A Haridwar court had recently issued a non-bailable warrant against Bharat in this case.

Reacting to this development, Ramdev's close aide Balkrishna said in Haridwar the court's decision vindicates their stand that the entire case was a conspiracy of Congress-led governments at the Centre and Uttarakhand.

"We have total faith in the judicial process and we are sure that we will be proved innocent in the end," Balkrishna said, terming the decision a big relief.